No one at the VA has gotten the ax for falsifying records that showed veterans waiting months for medical care.  And no one will probably be fired for the continued incompetence at the VA.

Washington Times:

The number of veterans seeking health  care but ending up on waiting lists of one month or more is 50 percent higher now than it was a year ago when a scandal over false records and long wait times wracked the Department of Veterans Affairs, The New York Times reported.

The VA also faces a budget  shortfall of nearly $3 billion, the Times reported in a story posted online ahead of its Sunday editions. The agency is considering furloughs, hiring freezes and other significant moves to reduce the gap, the newspaper reported.

In the last year, the VA has increased capacity by more than 7 million patient visits per year, double what officials originally thought they needed to fix shortcomings, the Times reported. However, the newspaper added, department officials did not anticipate just how much physician workloads and demand from veterans would continue to soar. At some major veterans hospitals, demand was up by one-fifth, the paper reported.

Citing interviews with department officials and internal department budget documents it had obtained, the Times reported that doctors  and nurses have handled 2.7 million more appointments than in any previous year, while authorizing 900,000 additional patients to see outside physicians.

The Times also reported intense internal debate at the VA over a proposal to address a shortage of funds for a new, more effective but more costly hepatitis C treatment by possibly rationing new treatments among veterans. Certain patients who have advanced terminal diseases  or suffer from a “persistent vegetative state or advanced dementia” would be excluded under that plan, the paper reported.

Agency officials expect to petition Congress this week to allow them to shift money into programs running short of cash, according to the newspaper. However, lawmakers may object to removing funds  from a new program intended to allow certain veterans on waiting lists and in rural areas to choose taxpayer-paid care from private doctors outside the department’s health system, the Times reported.

Absolutely shameful.  Incompetent planning, budgeting, and leadership still plague the government agency responsible for caring for our veterans.  It's like the scandal last year never happened.  What will it take to turn this agency around?

It starts with electing a president who cares enough about our veterans that he or she would ride the leadership of the VA on a consistent basis, holding their feet to the fire and firing anyone who fell down on the job.  In short, some competent leadership at the top would go a long way toward making things better for our veterans.

Don't expect any improvements before 2017.